LINUX and HOMEBREW Welcomed with open arms on the PS3+Memory Card Reader/Wi-Fi addon

Zenien

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"Well, this bit of news will surely excite all the PS3 fans. Kawanishi, Network system development manager at SCE, revealed at E3 in an interview that the PS3 will be supporting Linux! Although it has been known before, this interview just confirms the fact.

English Translation:
The PS3 will come standard with a functional Linux Operating System as well as compilers and other tools. This will give a vast playground to all the programmers on the PS3. This means that the PS3 will support all USB drives. Even back in the PlayStation generation, there were a lot of creations by homebrew developers. On the PS3, this will be much more.

If you think of the PS3 as an ecosystem, the game studios will still follow the current routine, to treat the PS3 as a game console, and develop games while paying the license fee. However, in which form can the individual developers participate best in the software development for the PS3?

"To request license fee from the individual developers is a little hard (laughing). When a game studio buys a license to develop for the PS3, SCE side must supply the studio with necessary tools and SDK libraries, as well as all kinds of technical support. Since the PS3 is using Linux, the license fee will not be required for developing on it."

Won't this be a challenge to all the programmers since they won't have any knowledge technical knowledge of the hardware?

"Based on Linux, it is the OS-side hardware layer which is managing the Cell processor related issues, which makes the SPE also opened to the developers. However, I don't think that the PS3 as a game platform business, and the PS3 in the Linux world, will be merged into one."

So, what does this mean for the average PS3 user who doesn't understand jack about Linux? Well, for starters, this is as good as an official announcement that Sony and PS3 will not block homebrew in any way, unlike the PSP. And the fact that homebrew developers will be welcomed with open arms and not boxing gloves, like on the PSP.

Seeing the PSP community, it's quite obvious that Sony would've learned a lot. A lot of homebrew on the PSP is stuff which Sony should have taken care of in the first place. And if they couldn't, they shouldn't have blocked it.

I'll skip the "Linux for Dummies" explanation. I assume all of our readers have at least heard of it sometime in their lives. And many of you must've tried it too. Linux on any platform is a dream. You can do so much with it. For programmers, this means that they won't have to code on the PC and transfer to the PS3. For the average user, Linux will open a world unimaginable before. Almost everything you can do on a PC, you will be able to do here. Media Centers (MythTV anyone?), Cool Desktop environments (KDE, Gnome), Browsers (Firefox, Mozilla, Opera), and lots more.

I just hope that they don't tie it down and cripple it. The PS2 Linux 'project' wasn't as successful because of the same reason.

No other details were revealed. So we still don't know if they will be using a popular distro or make one of their own (possibly deriving from another distro?). Plus, we don't know if the PS3's actual OS will be Linux itself, or whether it will be a dualboot environment. I'd guess that it's the latter.

Using Linux as the PS3's OS would mean a lot of headaches for them, as well as the GNU/GPL guys. Plus, using Linux as the main OS would mean possibly crippling it, so that it doesn't run code which they don't want. I'd rather not get into speculation mode, seeing how big companies have a knack of letting us down.

This bit of news finally brings something positive from the PS3 side on the table. Sony had been getting a lot of flak lately. Hopefully, this bit of news will help the PS3 redeem itself."

http://ps3.qj.net/Its-Official-The-PS3-will-support-Linux-and-Homebrew-/pg/49/aid/40039

Wi-Fi and memory card adaptors on the way

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony has dismissed rumours that the 20GB PS3 will not be compatible with wireless controllers, and that consumers will not have the option to upgrade the hard drive.

"Both queries to my knowledge are completely false," a spokesperson told GI.biz.

"Both configurations will support bluetooth PS3 controllers. The only non-upgradeable feature of the 20GB configuration will be the HDMI output."

This confirms comments made by Sony's Phil Harrison in a recent interview with GI.biz, where he stated: "You can upgrade to whatever size of drive you like. You can put in any drive that you like - it is a computer, after all."

The spokesperson went on to reveal that Sony plans to release a Wi-Fi adaptor for the 20GB PlayStation 3. Consumers will also have the option to purchase a separate adaptor that will allow the use of memory sticks, SD cards and compact flash cards with the machine.

However, there's still no word as to whether the 20GB PlayStation 3 will make it to the UK at all.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=17035
 
Thanks Z! Good news. I'm getting mine at launch.
 
why the hell is the ps3 turning into a computer? are you really that lazy to turn on your computer?

are they trying to start acomputer war with microsoft and dell?
 
This is actually really good news. The only reason I wouldn't want the 20gb version of the PS3 was because of the no memory card and no wifi that was reported. With this news and the earlier news that you can still watch HD without the HDMI I can finally feel satisfied with the 20gb version and might get it sooner than waiting for the 60gb version to drop in price.
 
this reminds me of the days of the Atari ST and the Amiga. and since it'll be such a popular platform there'll be loads of software all designed with the ps3 solely in mind. thus being well optimised easyier to bug test and more user friendly.
 
HAHAHA... and all this after sony spent years saying Xbox was too much like a PC :o

I cant believe they will take this stand with PS3 when the homebrew community has been ass raped by sony over the PSP.

This just means that PS3 will play copied games alot quicker now. :up:
 
actually they are thinking of opening the PSP to homebrew aswell. and since all programs people write for the PS3 with be OS dependant it wont help pirates at all.
 
I will believe it when I see it.
 

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